Opposition politician and legal expert Tendai Biti has strongly criticized the Zimbabwean government’s recent announcement to grant bankable title deeds to land reform beneficiaries, labeling it a betrayal of the liberation struggle’s core values.
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Reversal of Reform: Biti argues that granting transferable title deeds effectively reverses the 2000 Land Reform Program by privatizing land that was intended to remain state-owned for the benefit of all citizens.
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Constitutional Breach: He contends that privatization cannot legally occur without an Act of Parliament that defines compensation requirements for the new owners and protects land for future generations.
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Targeted Enrichment: Biti claims the move is designed to benefit a “mafia” of politically connected individuals rather than the average farmer, allowing elites to consolidate large estates and sell them at market prices.
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Compensation Controversy: While the government has pledged $3.5 billion to compensate white farmers for improvements, Biti notes they lack the capacity to pay, leading to further international distrust.
The recent policy shift by the Mnangagwa administration seeks to make land “registerable, transferable, and bankable” to unlock agricultural credit. However, Biti suggests this is a “blatant act of extraction” by cabinet members who wish to build personal empires. He emphasizes that the original intent of the 2000 seizures was to keep land as a finite national resource under state custody, preventing it from being individualized or sold off.
Biti proposes that instead of full privatization, the government should have “securitized” existing 99-year leases through an Act of Parliament. This would have made them bankable and attachable by lenders without fully transferring ownership away from the state. He also called for a long-overdue land audit to enforce the “one household, one farm” policy, noting that many elites currently hold multiple properties in violation of the constitution.
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The government must conduct a transparent land audit before issuing new titles.
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International re-engagement depends on respecting human rights and election integrity, not just land compensation.
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Genuine war veterans and ordinary Zimbabweans are likely to be “offended” by this level of “looting.”
In addition to his critique of the new land policy, Tendai Biti highlighted several other significant concerns regarding Zimbabwe’s governance and agricultural sector:
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Failure of the 99-Year Leases: Biti argued that instead of moving to private title deeds, the government should have “securitized” existing 99-year leases. He noted that these leases currently lack clear “diagram deeds” (property descriptions) registerable in the deeds office, which makes them unenforceable as bank collateral.
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Corruption and “Mafia” Control: He claimed the move toward privatization is driven by a “mafia” or “criminal syndicates” within the cabinet who wish to build personal land empires. He expressed concern that these elites, whom he referred to as “Garan,” are systematically capturing national resources, including mines, fuel pipelines, and now land.
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Lack of a Land Audit: Biti pointed out that the government has failed to implement a proper land audit to enforce the constitutional “one household, one farm” policy. He alleged that many members of the Zanu-PF Politburo and Central Committee are multiple farm owners, which is why audit results from 2010 were never published.
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Political Blackmail: He stated that land is currently used as a tool for political control, as farmers on Model A1 schemes only have “offer letters” that the government can cancel at any time if they are suspected of supporting the opposition.
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Agricultural Decline and “Gimmicks”: Biti dismissed recent claims of record wheat production as a “political gimmick,” stating that Zimbabwe lacks the ideal climate for commercial wheat and should instead focus on maize, soya, and livestock. He noted that since the 2000 reforms, maize production has dropped from roughly 3 million tons to 1.2 million tons annually.
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Broader Governance Issues: He emphasized that international re-engagement requires more than just land compensation; it requires stopping “stolen” elections, ending the persecution of political prisoners (citing the cases of Jameson Timba and Jacob Ngarivhume), and addressing the country’s high corruption levels.
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Communal Land Injustice: Biti highlighted that 19 million hectares of communal land still have no “exchange value” because the state refuses to grant residents any form of title, effectively keeping rural Zimbabweans in a state of underdevelopment.
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